President Monson, your decision to exclude children whose parents are in loving, healthy, stable homosexual marriages, affirmed for me the decision I made when I was 14 years old: to have nothing more to do with your church’s bigotry.

It’s difficult for non-members to understand the impact your policy will have on families within the church.

The church is a pervasive presence for its members.

High schoolers attend seminary daily.

Members attend services or activities several times per week.

Members are “called of God” to serve the church in volunteer positions.

Basic ordinances, like naming of infants (similar to a Christening), baptism, confirmation, the laying on of hands, receiving the priesthood, and temple endowments, are essential within church doctrine for a member to attain the highest kingdom of glory in the afterlife.

With this new policy, gay church members and their children are not just being cut off from a church.They are being cut off from their families, friends, communities, and, essentially, a tremendous part of their own identity as people of faith.

The church uses a highly coordinated communications plan to reinforce predetermined messaging in every aspect of its members’ lives: Sunday School lessons, Relief Society and Priesthood lessons, Young Men and Young Women achievement plans, firesides, conferences, seminary, news outlets, social media, and in home lessons known as Family Home Evening.

In this way, the church both implicitly and explicitly tells members what to read, listen to, watch, think, how to vote, and who to shun.

The most recent of their themes is: “Doubt your doubt before you doubt your faith.”

It’s a pretty way to say, “Don’t question your leaders.”

The church I was raised in taught members to explore their doubts.

We were admonished to “search, ponder, and pray.”

Church leaders must have figured out that too many people were doing just that: thinking for themselves and recognizing the church’s hypocrisy.

President Monson – I hope this new policy awakens millions of members to abandon your wrong and immoral doctrine.

I hope it becomes a sore that will fester and hurt your brand marketability for decades to come.

I hope that the thousands of active gay Mormons who you just slammed the door on, run as far away from your church as possible and never look back.

I hope too that these members know that there are places of love beyond the church. Places where they will be accepted and loved without judgement.

If love is wrong, I will be wrong.

For I would rather be wrong for the sake of compassion, than righteous in hatred and exclusion.

Thank you for giving me a reason to do what I should have done years ago.